Hello everyone! I am hoping someone who has used both an iPad 4th generation and a 9.7 inch iPad Pro would be able to give me their opinion. Do you feel like it is worth upgrading to the 9.7 inch iPad pro and a 4th generation iPad? Do you notice a significant performance enhancement? I am not interested in the Apple Pencil so that is not a deciding factor for me. Any opinions anyone has who has used both would be much appreciated. Thanks!
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Opinions. Is it worth upgrading?
- Thread starter fantasyphil
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Wow! They're not really comparable. The pro is much lighter and faster and can do more without any hiccups. It also can multitask in a much more useful way. If the pencil is not important to you then you can also consider the Air 2. It's performance is almost as good as the pro and comes much cheaper.
Most definitely. I had iPad 3, 4 and Air running iOS 9. Even coming from the Air, the jump to Pro 9.7 was significant particularly when loading multimedia heavy webpages.
Sure it's worth it.
But the battery on the Pro won't be as long-lasting as the 4 though. But still worth it.
But the battery on the Pro won't be as long-lasting as the 4 though. But still worth it.
This is true. Among all the iPads I've owned, the 4 had the longest battery life (16+ hrs screen time at low brightness).
After this many years the battery of his 4 may have started to decline anyway, unless it's been replaced.
Definitely recommend the iPad Air 2 to anyone not interested in the Pencil. It still runs like a champ, which can't really be said about the iPad Air. The iPad Air is still fine for basic stuff, but the iPad Air 2 can take anything you throw at it without lag.
It's definitely worth it. It's possible I have heard the iPad 4 is regarded as the worst of all iPads it's the same CPU as the iPad 3 only with a much higher resolution Retina Display making everything slower. The next year the iPad Air 1 really stole the show
Had I not gotten my 9.7 Pro I would have suggested waiting for the First iPad Pro with a Quad Core CPU which may be the first to run Mac OS X fully.
An iPad Air 2 will be more than fine if you are skipping the Apple Pencil.
That would be the iPad 3 (A5X). Same CPU as iPad 2 (A5), 2x GPU and 4x resolution. The iPad 4 (A6X) is what the iPad 3 should have been to begin with and was released a mere 6 months after the 3. Interestingly enough iPad 4+iOS 6 was actually much snappier in terms of UI compared to iPad Air+iOS 7. Granted, the Air was significantly lighter.
That said, there's a very significant/noticeable performance jump going from 4/Air to Pro 9.7.
I agree with most folks, definitely worth the upgrade. I am using the iPad Air 2 currently and love it. The weight alone makes it worth the upgrade to me.
I have owned every iPad since the second one, and the iPad 3 is really not too bad for light use. It has incredible battery life, and the screen still looks great. My son still uses it for kiddie stuff, but I'll retire it soon as it won't be supported by iOS 10. I'll probably use exclusively as an interface for AirPlaying Apple Music, for which is should be more than adequate.
I hate to defend the Air 1 but I have to. Maybe I got lucky but mine has always performed quite well no matter what. Im not a heavy tabbed-browsing user so that use case doesnt pertain(and its been an issue for some people) to me but every game, every app, every video, etc, etc have always run perfectly for me on my Air.
Had to get my "Air is good enough" poke in for the day
To the OP - the newest Air models are a tangible upgrade over the iPad 4. You'll feel the difference both in-hand and in-use
. Go for it...and you'll be set for a while.Huge leap, go buy.
If you're on a budget the Air 2 is still great, but don't underestimate the added bonus that is the speakers, display and, depending on your usage, the Smart Keyboard. Not historically a big keyboard guy re the iPad, but the SK is actually very good and convenient for light/medium usage.
If you're on a budget the Air 2 is still great, but don't underestimate the added bonus that is the speakers, display and, depending on your usage, the Smart Keyboard. Not historically a big keyboard guy re the iPad, but the SK is actually very good and convenient for light/medium usage.
Going from 4 to Air isn't a huge leap performance-wise. From the processing side of things, it very much feels like just an incremental update. If on a budget, Air 2 is a much better buy. Not much more expensive than the Air but a bigger jump in terms of performance. That said, the Air 2 is going on 2 years old so it'll probably start showing its age sooner rather than later. If money is not an issue, I'd opt for the Pro.I hate to defend the Air 1 but I have to. Maybe I got lucky but mine has always performed quite well no matter what. Im not a heavy tabbed-browsing user so that use case doesnt pertain(and its been an issue for some people) to me but every game, every app, every video, etc, etc have always run perfectly for me on my Air.
Had to get my "Air is good enough" poke in for the day
To the OP - the newest Air models are a tangible upgrade over the iPad 4. You'll feel the difference both in-hand and in-use
I had the iPad mini 2. Same processor, RAM, and screen resolution as the iPad Air.I hate to defend the Air 1 but I have to. Maybe I got lucky but mine has always performed quite well no matter what. Im not a heavy tabbed-browsing user so that use case doesnt pertain(and its been an issue for some people) to me but every game, every app, every video, etc, etc have always run perfectly for me on my Air.
Had to get my "Air is good enough" poke in for the day
To the OP - the newest Air models are a tangible upgrade over the iPad 4. You'll feel the difference both in-hand and in-use
It was fine at single tasks, but nothing ever stayed loaded in the background. I couldn't take it anymore and finally had to upgrade to the iPad mini 4 a few weeks ago.
Did you consider the iPad Pro 9.7 at all? I have a mini 2 w/ cellular that I use in the car and home every day. Not sure if the bigger size will be a good or bad thing.
Nope. I have an iPad Air 2 and don't see any reason to upgrade from that. I had a Wi-Fi iPad Air 2 for a year until I was able to get a cellular iPad Air 2 for $99, so I gave my Wi-Fi iPad Air 2 to my dad and took his iPad mini 2. I really liked the size of the mini but couldn't stand the lag, so I sold it and bought an iPad mini 4.
Now I use my iPad Air 2 at home and sometimes take my iPad mini 4 with me when I go out. But still have no desire to upgrade my iPad Air 2 for the iPad Pro, and the Pro couldn't replace my mini.
I don't think iPads will ever run OS X -- remember, macOS runs on Intel, iOS on ARM.
